Chapter 55-Resistant to Change

"The Wrong Way Home"

Lee exchanged a look of surprise with Amanda at hearing the words, "Mr. Prime Minister," uttered from Joe King's lips and for just a brief moment in that shared glance, they were back as they were before, but the moment was gone as Amanda quickly turned her attention back to the father of her children and the grinning man on the bed quoting Mark Twain.

Damn it, he cursed mentally as hearing Amanda's, "Joe...Sweetheart..." Lee tuned out the sound of anything but his own thoughts and cringed at her utterance of that word again as he tried to force his eyes away from the bed that they'd made love in just weeks before when they had made a vow to only see each other. Now, due to this damned case, she'd reverted to coolly calling him Mr. Stetson when a mere week ago on the Mata Hari II, she'd been squeaking out his name in the throes of passion. That part he could understand because hadn't he told her "we don't know each other?" But why...why was she calling her ex-husband...a man who'd all but abandoned her and their children, citing her as "resistant to change;" why was she calling him Sweetheart?

Resistant to change? He turned that phrase over in his mind for a moment. He vividly recalled teasing her about it in the Q about how she knew how to get what she wanted just like their fight last week over the candle, but in the end, she'd conceded and said he could have it if he really needed it. Or had he been the one to concede? He couldn't keep track anymore. He remembered saying something to her about the meaning of Mata Hari's name, but it was like it had never happened when he again began asking questions about her divorce. Several times in the years they'd been getting to know one another, he'd asked her about it and she'd always quickly clammed up. He'd thought for sure that with him approaching it as needing to know for the case, she couldn't still refuse to give him answers, but she had. She'd rebuffed him again. Didn't she understand that his need to know was more than just job-related? That he needed to understand her on a deeper level?

He thought too of the pain in her eyes at Dooley's when she finally had confided in him and answered his questions; a pain that still seemed so raw and...and tinged with just a hint of fear. What was she afraid of? She'd quickly covered with that warm smile of hers...or tried to anyway, but that smile...that smiled that he knew so well, this time it didn't quite reach those dark chocolate eyes of hers when she assured him that life had turned out okay, so he'd felt the need to offer something back of his own that "okay" just wasn't good enough for her. He had wanted to offer more; to tell her that he was the guy to give her much more than "okay," but as his miserable luck would have it, the subject of their surveillance showed up right at the most inopportune moment. No, Joe King was wrong. She wasn't resistant to change at all. She'd given in on the light thing and on telling him what he wanted to know. That gave him some small comfort.

He was pulled from his reverie by an insistent tugging at his hand and Amanda hissing, "Lee."

He looked at Amana quizzically. "Oh, it's Lee, now, is it?" he questioned, hid voice tinged with sarcasm.

Amanda gave him an exasperated look and scolded, "Weren't you listening? The Prime Minister here was just saying that he's known all along who I am...professionally speaking." She glanced at Joe and quickly told him, "I'll explain it all in depth another time," before turning back to Lee and pulling him toward the door. "He was just asking if he and Joe could have a few minutes alone to talk and catch up."

Lee nodded numbly, comforted by the warmth of Amanda's hand in his and the thought of being alone with her, even if it was only for a short time. "Um...yeah...why don't we go make us all some coffee?" he suggested as he ushered Amanda through the double doors of his bedroom and followed quickly behind her, keeping a tight hold of her hand the entire time.

"Sounds great," Joe King nodded with a smile as he closed the bedroom doors behind the pair.

"Well, that is really good news that the Prime Minister is still alive," Amanda gushed excitedly as they reached the kitchen and she released Lee's hand to start the promised pot of coffee. "I mean, they can hardly accuse Joe of murdering a man who's still alive, right?"

"True, but there was still a murder committed, Amanda," Lee pointed out as he scooted up close behind her, "And his fingerprints are still on the murder weapon."

When Amanda was finished with the task, she attempted to turn to face him, but he was so close that she had no room to move in the small space that he called a kitchen. "Surely, you don't think he's a killer."

"I'll tell you what I think about him." He bent his head to whisper low in her ear, "I think he never deserved you."

Amanda shivered slightly, her breath hitching at Lee being so close, his breath on her skin and his low, rumbling voice in her ear. "Lee, they're in the next ro-" but her thought was cut off by his lips descending on her neck as his hands yanked the tails of her blouse from her slacks, then before she could fully discern what was happening, he had one hand clasped around her right breast, the other inside her panties stroking her. "Lee," she hissed through clenched teeth, mindful that they were not alone in the apartment. How he'd gotten her clothing undone that quickly, she'd never know. All she knew is that one minute, she was annoyed with him for still thinking that Joe might be a killer, now all she could think about was how he was making her feel. She gripped the countertop for support as the sensations washed over her.

"He still doesn't deserve you," Lee growled in her ear as he removed the hand from her breast long enough to lower his own zipper and press against her, smirking in smug satisfaction at the tiny gasp she let out. "It's me you want, isn't it?" he demanded as he still caressed her intimately.

"Yes," she whispered as she began to tremble uncontrollably. She whimpered in protest when Lee removed his hand. "Lee!"

"Shh, they're in the next room, remember?" He reached for waistband of her dress slacks, shoving them and her panties quickly down her legs, grasped her hips firmly, bending her slightly over the counter and plunged into her, clamping his mouth down on her cardigan-covered shoulder to keep from crying out and alerting the two men in the next room while Amanda buried her face on her right arm for the same reason. Knowing they may not have much time, Lee wasted no time in pulling back and thrusting hard into her again. Keeping one hand firmly on her hip, he moved the other back to the apex between her thighs and began stroking her again, this time determined to push her all the way over the edge and make her see what she'd be missing if she were to be taken in by her ex-husband's charm again.

The dual sensations of having Lee inside her combined with his skilled fingers touching her in all the right ways soon became overwhelming for Amanda and she felt herself convulsing wildly and biting down on her own arm to keep from crying out as wave after wave of pleasure overtook her. She felt as if she might never come down from this high because even as she was reaching her peak, he was still moving within her, advancing and retreating, harder and faster than he ever had until she heard his guttural cry in her ear and felt his warmth flooding into her, but still he didn't stop, simply slowed his movements and to her surprise, placed a tender kiss to her cheek before stilling completely and withdrawing from her.

She released her grip on the counter as she tried to catch her breath and slow her heart rate, hearing the hiss of Lee's zipper and the tinkling sound of his belt being fastened behind her. When she was finally able to bring herself to her senses, she quickly straightened her own clothing as Lee moved past her to clean himself up a bit at the sink while she rummaged through his cabinets for coffee mugs and began to assemble a serving tray for when the coffee was done, not another word spoken between them as they heard the double doors of the bedroom being opened behind them.

As they heard Joe and Shamba exiting the bedroom, Lee quickly called, "Just go ahead and make yourselves at home in the living room. We'll be right in." Lee then busied himself with helping Amanda prepare the serving tray, taking great satisfaction in knowing that Joe King was watching every move like a hawk and seeing them sharing this moment of domesticity like those he'd walked out on; further proof that he could give Amanda what she wanted and what Joe had not.

As they put the finishing touches on it, and he carried it to the living room with a, "Here we are," it gave him another wave of satisfaction as Amanda ran her hand along his back as she passed by him to take a seat on the sofa. He glanced briefly at her, noticing that she'd positioned herself as far from Joe as she could on the large sectional sofa but of course, couldn't help also noticing the huge Cheshire-cat grin the spread across her face; that 'gotcha'" look she wore so often when she caught him in a moment of jealousy, this time over his obvious need to possess her. He knew he was caught, but he wouldn't change it. He had needed her in that moment, needed to know that she needed him. She'd known it and in knowing it, had given them both the release they'd needed of more than just the physical variety.

He turned his attention away and began doling out coffee cups only to see Joe giving him a curious arched eyebrow. He knew instinctively that Joe had noticed the intimacy with which Amanda had touched him and the deeper intimacy of looks that had passed between them and he responded with a smug grin. That's right, Buddy, she's mine now.

Seeing that telling look on Lee's face, Joe turned his gaze briefly to Amanda, who seemed not to notice as her focus was still solely on the man across from him. Swallowing hard, he quickly glanced back to Lee, giving him a nearly imperceptible nod of approval, the two men reaching an unspoken understanding before getting down to the business at hand. How could he help but concede once he'd seen the adoration for Lee written all over Amanda's face. While he couldn't quite discern exactly what there was between them, he knew Amanda well enough to know that it was well and truly over for him.

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Nursing his beer at the bar, Lee smiled triumphantly because of having seen Amanda turn from her ex just to smile at him. He knew that smile. While she was dancing with him, her mind wasn't on him. That smile...this time it reached her eyes...and it was meant for him, Lee, and him alone; the "life has turned out okay" smile and this time, he knew she meant it. He glanced back over at the pair again and, thought once more, Joe King, you were wrong. She's not resistant to change at all.